Have you ever seen a run down old barn with its roof collapsing and the wall boards sliding to the ground? Maybe you’ve seen one in a picture or a movie. I live in Alberta so I see them quite often as we travel to see family or just go for a drive in the country side. They're on someone’s property and just kinda crumbling away. One day I'll meet someone who owns one and ask why let it just hang out and slowly twist itself to the ground.

Have you ever seen a video or read a story of someone who was obese but successfully lost most of the weight? They work and struggle through a major transformation and now they can once again do normal things like get their own groceries?

The only difference between the derelict building and the healthy-again person is action. The owner of the barn couldn’t fix it for whatever reason. But they couldn’t tear it down either so it just sits there. The weight-loss person on the other hand had to live in their body and couldn't stand living in that run down state and had to take action to get them selves back to a manageable weight.

I'm guessing if the barn owner had to live in their ramshackle building they would take action on it rather than letting it crumble.

So, that book you're writing. That graphic novel you want to finish. That portrait series of cats dressed as sailors. What ever your thing is ... Is it crumbling in the yard and you just keep looking at it? Or are you living in it and the aches and pains of not being able to move from the weight of your unfulfilled creativity is holding you in your chair.

Either way you need to take action. You need to do the work it takes to either blow it up or get it back to healthy.

Here’s where you get to do some thinking

Are you ignoring your project and letting it crumble?

What would happen if you just demolished the project, called it done and moved on?

Do you know your next project already?

What would happen if you just started working on it?

Are you weighed down by the size of your project feeling like it’ll never get done?

What action could you take now to get things moving again?

Could you break it down into smaller chunks?

What parts do you absolutely need to do that isn’t done yet?

Are there parts of the project someone could help you with?

Whether you decide to blow it up or get it healthy I’d love to hear about it. I’m always available on twitter @sh_tucker

If you know someone who seems to be struggling with a project and you think this episode might help them the easiest way to share it with them is to send them the url TheSparkAndTheArt.com/47

And if you haven’t already you can visit TheSparkAndTheArt.com and subscribe to the podcast via email. Right now as a thank-you I send you the commentary edition of my 5 song EP Born To The World. But I’ve just outlined a new giveway ebook planned for the one year anniversary of the podcast. This new little book will focus specifically on actions you can take to get creative projects from the spark of the idea through the work all the way to your art. A completed project. You can be one of the first to know about it by joining the mailing list at TheSparkAndTheArt.com. Plus you get an email each week when the new podcast episodes are published.

Thanks for listening and remember, you won’t get the art without the work and you won’t do the work with out the spark.